stayed there so long that she’d finally turned to stone, forever entombed in the only place she called home.
That would be me if I stayed this way.
But I had to.
Mac was evidence of that.
I stiffened my shoulders and drew in a breath, taking courage from the quiet library around me. The vial burned in my hand, waiting.
Moping was stupid. And Mac needed me.
I stepped away from the door and headed toward the rear of the library. Back here, the air was chill. Unnaturally so, reminding me that I was still dressed in my wellies and sleep shorts.
“Come out, come out, wherever you were,” I murmured. It was ridiculous and dangerous to taunt the darkness, but I was pissed.
I was going to figure this shit out and end it.
Save Mac.
My footsteps were silent as I crept forward. I made it to the center of the floor under the massive domed ceiling, avoiding the very middle where our fiery card catalog resided. It located the books using smoke, and while it wasn’t burning at the moment, I didn’t like to walk over it.
Fear chilled my skin as I neared the back of the library. Acres of tall wooden bookshelves filled the space, disappearing into the distance.
There was no sight of the mist, but I could smell it. Fire and brimstone. Heat and magic.
The scent grew stronger, the dark mist appearing. It crept along the floor, curling around the books on the bottom shelves. My hands trembled as I uncorked the vial.
I’d be quick. I had to be.
The mist curled upward, spreading throughout the library. I swore I heard it whispering to me in a deep voice, coaxing me closer.
Seraphia.
Oh fates, I prayed. Not now. Please.
I didn’t want the mist to form the shadow of the ghost who haunted me.
I drew in a last breath of clean air and darted forward, my eyes on the low-lying mist. I was nearly to it when the air changed, popping with magic and power. Golden sparks filled the air.
Shit!
I ducked low and swooped up a tiny vial of the mist, then darted backward, heart pounding ferociously.
The mist roared upward, magic surging through the air. Panic flared. It had never moved this fast before.
It shot out, wrapping around me, hot and fierce.
“No!” I pulled back, trying to sprint away.
The mist coalesced to form a figure, tall and broad, yet featureless. It was shaped like a man, and it clutched me close.
I tried to jerk away, but its arms were too strong. They yanked me to it. I punched and kicked, but it was like beating a stone wall.
I got the faintest glimpse of dark, flashing eyes.
Beautiful, deep blue eyes.
“Let me go!” Desperate, I called upon my magic. It rose within me, long disused and unfamiliar.
Plants. I needed plants.
Books I had aplenty. I was surrounded by them, but plants? Not so much. The cut flowers in the sitting room were nearly worthless, but there was a fern near the door.
I reached for it, trying to feel its life force.
It pulsed weakly.
The shadow heaved me up into his arms, throwing me over a shoulder that was far too solid to be made of mist.
I screamed, beating at his back as I used my magic to call the fern toward me. A pot shattered against the ground in the distance, and I could feel the plant shooting toward us.
I thrashed so hard that I surprised my captor, managing to dislodge myself from his shoulder and crash to the ground. Pain flared in my side, and I looked up at the shadow. It towered over me, shaped like a man but featureless and dark.
A half second later, the fern slammed into the shadow’s neck, wrapping its roots around the dark column.
Strangle him.
The plant tried, but he jerked it off and threw it across the room.
Damn it. I scrambled upright, my gaze on the door. I just had to get far enough away.
I managed to take two steps before he grabbed me again, this time so strong and powerful that I didn’t stand a chance. The vial of mist flew out of my hand and shattered on the ground.
My prize gone.
He clutched me to his side like a rag doll, his grip an iron bar at my back.
With powerful strides, he dragged me deeper into the library, toward the darkest shadows in the back. I thrashed and screamed, desperately reaching out with my magic for the tree roots in the streets outside, the vines covering the ancient buildings.